1 By Eva Parker

2 This product has been produced on behalf of the national training system. It was funded under the Adult Literacy National Project administered by the Australian National Training Authority until 24 August 2005 and subsequently by the Commonwealth of Australia from that date. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Australian National Training Authority or State and Territory Training Authorities. © Commonwealth of Australia 2006 This work is Copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source and it is not used for commercial use or sale. Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above requires the prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and copyright should be addressed to the Branch Manager, Technology and Information Services Branch, Industry Skills Development Group, Department of Education, Science and Training, GPO Box 9880 Canberra City, ACT, 2601.

3 The car flew around the corner and skidded on an oil patch.

4 BANG. It hit a tree.

5 There was glass and metal thrown across the road. The other cars stopped.

6 “Call ‘000,’ ask them to send the ambulance, rescue squad and the police,” someone yelled.

7 The man was trapped in his car. Passers-by got out of their car to help the trapped man.

8 A woman came over and told them she was a doctor. She looked at the man trapped in the car. He was not moving.

9 He had hit his head on the steering wheel and had cut his head open. He was bleeding; blood ran down his face.

10 He started to move and opened his eyes. “Don’t worry, everything will be OK. Can you tell me your name?”

11 “John. My name is John.” “That’s good, John. Don’t move your head.”

12 The doctor called for someone to find a towel. A woman came running over and handed her a towel.

13 She rolled it up and wrapped it around John’s neck to keep it still.

14 She looked at his legs and could see a bone sticking out. His legs were trapped under the dashboard.

15 “It looks like you have broken your leg, John”, said the doctor.

16 The police arrived first and then the ambulance. The rescue squad was not far behind them.

17 The ambulance man asked him his name. “John. My name is John.”

18 “That’s good John, we are going to take very good care of you.”

19 They put a drip into John’s arm so that they could keep him hydrated and give him morphine.

20 They removed the towel from around his neck and put a neck brace in its place.

21 The rescue squad had to cut John from his car. It took them half an hour to cut John free from his car.

22 John was then gently put on a back board. He was lifted onto a trolley and put into the back of the ambulance.

23 The ambulance officers then bandaged John’s leg and head to stop the bleeding.

24 He was then rushed to the hospital.

25 At the hospital they took X- rays of his whole body to see what damage had been done.

26 John had fractured his skull, broken five ribs and broken his leg in two places. They rushed him into the operating room to fix his leg with pins.

27 They put stitches in his head and gave him a lot of morphine for the pain. He had to stay in hospital for three weeks.

28 His family came to visit him every day.

29 Then John was allowed to go home.